Dona Buang Rainforest Gallery

The main drag of Warburton.

Saturday, April 30^th.

I slept in a bit this morning and woke up to a pretty nice day. I had not planned where to go so I decided to for a drive north. A couple of months ago I cycled the Lilydale to Warburton Trail with Graham and Tess. After they left I programmed my GPS to go back to Warbuton via the roads, and it took me through town and up a moutain to a remote washroom by a rainforest hike. I didn't hike it then because it was getting too dark. So I decided to go back there and explore the forest.

Again I programmed the GPS and again it took me through town and up the mountain to the same washroom. This is the entrance to the Yarra National Park which is named after the river that has its head waters here and eventually runs right through the centre of Melbourne and into Phillip Bay. From the edge of the road there is a metal walkway out into the Dona Buang Rainforest Gallery. From the platform I was 15 metres above the forest floor. The view was spectacular with huge, old gum trees (that have been growing here long before James Cook and the other Europeans discovered Australia) and a variety of other moss covered trees, including fern trees.

From the walkway there were stairs down to the floor and a metal path that let you walk through the forest without disturbing the vegetation. It was very quiet and peaceful there with the silence broken only by birds and the wind through the trees.

After that I retraced my route over the mountain and back through Warburton, where I stopped for something to eat before driving back home.